1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 21, 2:20 PM EST, 5 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 320 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003 ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED CONVECTION CONTINUES TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA...IN AN AIRMASS CHARACTERIZED BY CAPES RANGING FROM 2500 IN THE MOUNTAINS...TO 3500 J/KG ALONG THE EASTERN PERIPHERY OF THE CWFA. WE WILL ADVERTISE CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION EARLY THIS EVENING TO HANDLE THIS ACTIVITY. WITH MODERATE TO HIGH INSTABILITY AND STEEP MID LEVEL THETA-E LAPSES...EXPECT THAT WE WILL SEE A FEW WET MICROBURSTS HERE AND THERE THIS EVENING. OF GREATER CONCERN IS THE RATHER STRONG MCS CURRENTLY ADVANCING OUT OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY...INTO NORTHERN MIDDLE/NORTHEAST TENN. THE UNSTABLE AIRMASS AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE AND CORFIDI VECTORS/THERMAL WIND PROGS SHOULD SUPPORT IT INTO OUR NC MNTNS DURING THE MID/LATE EVENING...AND WILL CARRY LIKELY POPS THERE DURING THIS TIMEFRAME. HOWEVER...WITH LACK OF UPPER SUPPORT/ADEQUATE SHEAR...THE MCS SHOULD HAVE DIFFICULTY MAINTAINING ITSELF EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS...SO POPS WILL BE HELD IN THE CHANCE RANGE THERE. TUESDAY...PERSISTENT EAST COAST TROUGH AMPLIFIES AS A STRONG SW MOVES INTO THE BASE OF THE TROUGH...AND DEEP LAYER W/SW FLOW STRENGTHENS QUITE NICELY IN RESPONSE...ESP FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. ALTHOUGH INCREASE IN CLOUD COVER AND RATHER WEAK MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES WILL PRECLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TERRIBLY UNSTABLE AIRMASS...EXPECT CONVECTION TO REDEVELOP TOMORROW AFTERNOON WITHIN LEE TROUGH...AND/OR PERHAPS ALONG OUTFLOW BOUNDARY(S) LEFT BEHIND FROM TONIGHTS MCS. SHEAR WILL BE MORE THAN ADEQUATE FOR SOME OF THIS ACTIVITY TO ORGANIZE INTO SEVERE MULTICELL CLUSTERS...AND WE WILL ADVERTISE HIGH CHANCE TO LIKELY POPS TOMORROW AFTERNOON. AS THE SW TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVES INTO THE AREA TUESDAY EVENING/NIGHT...AND THE REGION COMES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF AN 80KT H2 JET...SUSPECT THAT WE WILL SEE A LARGE MCS AFFECT THE CWFA DURING THIS TIME...AND LIKELY POPS WILL BE MAINTAINED FOR THIS PERIOD. ASSUMING THAT THE AIRMASS ISNT COMPLETELY WORKED OVER FROM TOMORROW AFTERNOONS CONVECTION...THERE SHOULD BE A CONTINUED THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER INTO TUESDAY NIGHT. HAVE LINGERED POPS INTO WEDNESDAY AND PART OF THURSDAY...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE EAST...AS THE BOUNDARY BEGINS TO STALL IN OR NEAR THE AREA. FOR FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...THE FORECAST WILL REMAIN FREE OF POPS...AS THE EAST COAST TROUGH DEAMPLIFIES AND THE BOUNDARY SLOWLY WASHES OUT OVER THE SOUTHEAST. POPS RETURN TO THE FORECAST FOR MONDAY...AS MEDIUM RANGE MODELS HINT AT A REAMPLIFICATION OF THE TROUGH. .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. LANE
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-211945- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 140 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ONE OR TWO OF THEM COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING FROM THE WEST WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING...AND COULD PRODUCE MORE SEVERE WEATHER...MAINLY IN THE FORM OF WIND DAMAGE. FOR MORE INFORMATION...SEE THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK (SPSGSP) ISSUED AT 130 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN ON TUESDAY...WEDNESDAY...AND THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. MOORE
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
458 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
330 PM 1 SE AVL NC WIND DAMAGE
07/21/03 HENDERSON PUBLIC REPORTED NINE
BRADFORD PEAR TREES BLOWN
DOWN AT GOLF COURSE...
LARGEST OF WHICH WAS 15
IN DIAM. ALSO PEA SIZED
HAIL.
LAMBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
518 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
501 PM 2 NW TAYLORSVILLE NC 1.00 INCH HAIL
07/21/03 ALEXANDER SPOTTER REPORT.
JATPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
646 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
635 PM NEWTON NC .75 INCH HAIL
07/21/03 CATAWBA PUBLIC REPORT.
JATPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
650 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
647 PM 10 N SHELBY NC 1.00 INCH HAIL
07/21/03 CLEVELAND QUARTER SIZE HAIL
REPORTED BY SPOTTER.
630 PM UNION SC WIND DAMAGE
07/21/03 UNION SPOTTER REPORTED TREES
DOWN.
RBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
726 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
700 PM 2 N NEWTON NC WIND DAMAGE
07/21/03 CATAWBA A COUPLE OF TREES ON
POWER LINES ALONG HIGHWAY
70.
RBNPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
808 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
759 PM 8 SE CHARLOTTE NC WIND
07/21/03 MECKLENBURG 60 MPH WINDS ESTIMATED
ALONG INTERSTATE 485
BETWEEN PINEVILLE AND
MATHEWS.
755 PM MORRESVILLE NC WIND GUSTS
07/21/03 IREDELL AMATEUR RADIO OPERATED
MEASURED 58 MPH GUSTS.
RBNThe Greer radar (KGSP), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:30 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike ignited a fire at a barn, destroying the barn and its contents.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, July 2003
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5330381.